Use of modelling tools to assess climate change impacts on smallholder oil seed yields in South Africa.

Oil seed crops are the second most important field crops after cereals in the agricultural economy globally. The use and demand for oilseed crops such as groundnut, soybean and sunflower have grown significantly, but climate change is expected to alter the agroecological conditions required for oilseed crop production. This study aims to present an approach that utilizes decision-making tools to assess the potential climate change impacts on groundnut, soybean and sunflower yields and the greenhouse gas emissions from the management of the crops.

Spatial and temporal distribution of optimal maize sowing dates in Nigeria.

Climate change and inter-annual variability cause variation in rainfall commencement and cessation which has consequences for the maize growing season length and thus impact yields. This study therefore sought to determine the spatially explicit optimum maize sowing dates to enable site specific recommendations in Nigeria. Gridded weather and soil data, crop management and cultivar were used to simulate maize yield from 1981-2019 at a scale of 0.

Dataset of the suitability of major food crops in Africa under climate change.

Understanding the extent and adapting to the impacts of climate change in the agriculture sector in Africa requires robust data on which technical and policy decisions can be based. However, there are no publicly available comprehensive data of which crops are suitable where under current and projected climate conditions for impact assessments and targeted adaptation planning. We developed a dataset on crop suitability of 23 major food crops (eight cereals, six legumes & pulses, six root & tuber crops, and three in banana-related family) for rainfed agriculture in Africa in terms of area and produced quantity.

Drivers of diversity and community structure of bees in an agroecological region of Zimbabwe.

Worldwide bees provide an important ecosystem service of plant pollination. Climate change and land-use changes are among drivers threatening bee survival with mounting evidence of species decline and extinction. In developing countries, rural areas constitute a significant proportion of the country's land, but information is lacking on how different habitat types and weather patterns in these areas influence bee populations.

Climate change and specialty coffee potential in Ethiopia.

Current climate change impact studies on coffee have not considered impact on coffee typicities that depend on local microclimatic, topographic and soil characteristics. Thus, this study aims to provide a quantitative risk assessment of the impact of climate change on suitability of five premium specialty coffees in Ethiopia. We implement an ensemble model of three machine learning algorithms to predict current and future (2030s, 2050s, 2070s, and 2090s) suitability for each specialty coffee under four Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs).

Stewardship of Wild and Farmed Edible Insects as Food and Feed in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Perspective.

Edible insects have gained popularity as alternative food resources in the face of climate change and increasing carbon and environmental footprints associated with conventional agricultural production. Among the positive attributes that make edible insects suitable as food and feed substrates include rapid reproduction, high energy conversion efficiency, wide distribution, diversity, reduced greenhouses gases and ammonia emissions, possibility to reduce waste and high nutritional composition. In Sub-Saharan Africa, considerable scientific data exist on use of insects as food and livestock feed.

Impacts of climate change on agro-climatic suitability of major food crops in Ghana.

Climate change is projected to impact food production stability in many tropical countries through impacts on crop potential. However, without quantitative assessments of where, by how much and to what extent crop production is possible now and under future climatic conditions, efforts to design and implement adaptation strategies under Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Action Plans (NAP) are unsystematic. In this study, we used extreme gradient boosting, a machine learning approach to model the current climatic suitability for maize, sorghum, cassava and groundnut in Ghana using yield data and agronomically important variables.

Habitat Heterogeneity Variably Influences Habitat Selection by Wild Herbivores in a Semi-Arid Tropical Savanna Ecosystem.

An understanding of the habitat selection patterns by wild herbivores is critical for adaptive management, particularly towards ecosystem management and wildlife conservation in semi arid savanna ecosystems. We tested the following predictions: (i) surface water availability, habitat quality and human presence have a strong influence on the spatial distribution of wild herbivores in the dry season, (ii) habitat suitability for large herbivores would be higher compared to medium-sized herbivores in the dry season, and (iii) spatial extent of suitable habitats for wild herbivores will be different between years, i.e.

The impact of climate change on the potential distribution of agricultural pests: the case of the coffee white stem borer (Monochamus leuconotus P.) in Zimbabwe.

The production of agricultural commodities faces increased risk of pests, diseases and other stresses due to climate change and variability. This study assesses the potential distribution of agricultural pests under projected climatic scenarios using evidence from the African coffee white stem borer (CWB), Monochamus leuconotus (Pascoe) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), an important pest of coffee in Zimbabwe. A species distribution modeling approach utilising Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) and Generalized Linear Models (GLM) was applied on current and projected climate data obtained from the WorldClim database and occurrence data (presence and absence) collected through on-farm biological surveys in Chipinge, Chimanimani, Mutare and Mutasa districts in Zimbabwe.